Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Awake at Dawn by C.C. Hunter

16-year old Kylie Galen has been impatiently asking what she is ever since she arrived at Shadow Falls for those who were born at midnight. She learned that she was different from other kids in the camp and that puzzle remains unsolved.

The entire Shadow Falls camp (which includes vampires, werewolves, fairies and shape-shifters) has been impatiently trying to figure out what Kylie is so that they can coddle her into joining their group.

It’s obvious that she’s not 100 percent human. It also appears that she’s not a vampire, a werewolf, or a fairy. She’s also not a shape shifter. Over the course of this story, she gains some amazing new abilities, including the ability to ghost whisper and the ability to heal those who are injured.

Kylie is also being haunted by a ghost who continues to say that something awful is going to happen to someone she knows and that she needs to do something to stop it from happening. Kylie tries patiently to work with the ghosts to figure out who is in trouble, and what she can do to save them, but her patience it put through the wringer at times.

In the meantime, Kylie is also searching for more information about her real father Daniel Brighten and his family. Daniel died before she was born, but knows that he was adopted. She still wants to know how she ended up with the abilities she has and where they came from. She even goes as far as hiring a private investigator to find them for her. This storyline obviously continues into the next book sinc Ms Hunter seems intent on pulling readers along for the ride, without giving too much away.

Kylie’s feelings towards Lucas (werewolf), who she has known since she was 5 years old, are a bit taxed after he returns to Shadow Falls after being away saving his sister. It doesn’t help that Lucas helps save Kylie from a rogue vampire bent on making Kylie his wife against her.

It also doesn't help that Derek goes AWOL from the equation as he takes the nearest exit in their relationship after agreeing to work for the Fallen Research Unit and having his poor feelings hurt by Kylie. Pardon me Derek, but she’s a teenager. A female teenager! Teens are confused, especially females. Maybe boys can make up their minds since their brains lay between their legs, But, girls need time to discover their feelings and their true love before settling down with one person. They also don't make the best choices at times. Cut her some slack Jack!

Whoa, did I just write that part?

As much as I abhor 3-way love triangles, in the YA genre you almost have to expect it’s going to occur at one point or the other. If they are written well, and the outcome isn’t all that clear, then I pretty much can deal with whatever happens in the end. I only hope that this 3 way doesn’t continue until the end of the series.

Kylie isn’t a bad character to follow. She’s charming, easy to deal with, and has a truly good heart that is also easily broken by idiots like Derek who won’t give her a chance to clarify her feelings toward him. She wants the best for her best friends Miranda and Della who both experience turbulence in this story and are truly annoying at other times. She even goes as far as trying to play matchmaker between Burnett and Holiday.

By the end of the book, the question(s) “What Am I” or “What are you?” are left unanswered. One can only hope that we aren’t dragged along for another book before finally having these questions answered for us.

Awake at Dawn is the second book in the Shadow Falls series. Taken at Dusk releases April 10, 2012 by St. Martin’s Press

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Hi, I'm Shelley, an avid book reader from Florida by way of New York. I read and review books of MOST GENRE's for my own personal gratification and don't mind if people disagree with my assessment as long as they respect me.
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